Men's Tennis

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Bronco men's tennis team stepped up with its best performance of the young 2014 season, showing terrific energy and focus from the outset in a 4-0 win over No. 64 Georgia State. Santa Clara rebounded strongly with several clutch matches in the ITA Kick-Off Consolidation match, after falling to No. 4 USC on Saturday. The Broncos improved their season record to 2-1.

"I really liked the way we competed when we had our backs against the wall to start the match in doubles," said Bronco Head Coach Derek Mills. "We maintained our composure and played with incredible energy and found a way to come back from deficits in doubles. Then we used that momentum from doubles and finished the match off in singles."

The Broncos return home to the Mission Campus where they will play all five of their February matches. Santa Clara hosts its lone doubleheader of the season on Sat., Feb. 1 when it takes on UC Santa Cruz at 10am and Sonoma State at 2:30pm.

Santa Clara rode two clutch performances in doubles and three impressive singles wins to the 4-0 final against the 64th-ranked Panthers on Sunday. All three doubles matches were decided by a tiebreaker, with the Broncos winning at No. 1 and No. 2.

In the top spot, John Lamble and Ilya Osintsev topped Thomas Cook and Felipe Jaworski 6-5. Lamble and Osintsev upped their record to 2-1, including the fall season. Sam Bertram and Ashot Khacharyan picked up the second win in a tight 9-7 tiebreaker at No. 2 doubles. The junior Australian and sophomore Russian have developed good team chemistry and are now 4-1.

Mikheil Khmiadashvili and Jesse Ross fought valiantly in the third doubles spot, but were edged out in the tiebreaker.

Santa Clara continued playing well in singles, as the Broncos' top three players won in straight sets. Lamble faced Cook at No. 1 and was on his game, rolling for a 6-1, 6-2 victory. The Bronco senior is 9-3 on the season and has won five of his last six matches.

Osintsev matched Lamble's performance, dropping only three games in a 6-2, 6-1 final over Jaworski in the second position. Osintsev's record is 6-2 and he has won three of his past four contests. Khacharyan nailed the match down with a 6-4 first set and dominating 6-0 second set, improving his record to 3-2.

Be sure to check on SantaClaraBroncos.com for more on Santa Clara's upcoming matches. Stay up to date with everything men's tennis on Facebook and Twitter @SCUmtennis. Go Broncos!